Detachable handle and socket for a dolly



E. E. MEILSTRUP DETACHABLE HANDLE AND SOCKET FOR A DOLLY Nov. 20, 1951 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1948 INVENTOR .E. E. ME/LSTRUP BY fl- A TTORNEV Nov. 20, 1951 E. E. MEILSTRUP 2,575,391

DETACHABLE HANDLE AND SOCKET FOR A DOLLY Filed Aug. 2, 1948 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 FIG. 4

wvsm TOR E. E. ME/LS TRUP A T TORNEV Patented Nov. 20, 1951 DETACHABIJEHANDLE AND SOCKE'FFORW A'DOLIJY'" Meilstrup,.Winston-,Salem, N.-: C.,,assignon. to; Westerm Electric G'ompanm. Incorpprated,..

Newt-York; .NhYg a corporation of New York ApplicatihnAugust-QZ, 1948;: Serial. Nm. 423113."

6&Claims;

invention. pertains to truck dollies; and more; particularly: to a: detachable dolly: handle" zmdvacooperatingsocket for; a. dolly:

Thezusua'l construction ofi.dollieszused to transportzarti'cles'in a shop comprises'a fiat-rectangularzplatform.mountedron a plurality of 'wheels. A socketmemberisordinarily securedto the top irontted'geeof the rectangular platform: and adst'a'chableihandlez engages in the socket. H'eretofore. the usual practice has loeen-- for the operator to'leave the handle of the dolly rest onthe floor when not in use; which sometimes causes accidents. Also; in'removable handle constructions it has been found that when the operator maneuvers thedolly rearwardly, the handle sometimes" slips out of the socket member thereby causing'injury to the-operator: An object of" the present invention is topro"- videa; new and improved-detachable dolly'handle and a cooperating dolly socket whereby-the-handie cannot lie-removed accidentally-and it'can' be" locked' in arr out of the way rest position of the floor.

With the above and other ohj'ect's. in view, the" ii'ivention' maybe embodied in. an" apparatus or" device comprising adetachabledolly" handlewhichis' inserted ina socket member: Located at the" lower portion of the handle are a pair" of spacedcrcss pins whichfit' respectively in anioffiset'recess in the socket member and over an out.- sideedge thereof to positively and" tightly lock the handlein' thesocket' member; This construction gives'th'e' operator safe and positive control at' all" times" in operating the deny. The lower portion. oi thehandle. has a hook member which is utilized in securing the handle in a non-operative position. Also-one-of theorosspins engages an indented shoulder in the upper portion of the socket" member to-lock the handle in its? off the floor rest position.

A complete understanding of thexinvention may be obtained from the following detailed descripe tionlwhentaken in coniunctionwith theraccompanying-L drawings, in which:

1 is..a plan view of the detachableshandle and the cooperating socket, showing them; in operative engagement to eflecttthe movement. of a dolly;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the detachable handle and its associated socket shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational fragmentary view of the detachable handle and its associated socket, showing the handle in its upright rest position when not in use; and

lili

2. Fig. 4.;.-.1s. aperspectireeview'oi zthe-s w rpartmf: the handle showing the block;;and. interlocking pins. which engage-the. socket: on the doll-yr" Referring now to-the drawings; wherein-: like:- a reference numerals designate the sarnc=- parts.

throughout-the several. views, a socket'member l'll issecured to the front top portion of a dolly-plate. form l2. A-pairof verticaL. spaced plates rs: and i4 welded to thesteel: frame of the:- dolly plat'-- form form the walls of: the socketmember l I and' are-rigidly supportedfby-three spaced pins I 5 The ends ofthepins [5 are press fitted into openings in the plates 13 and-l4 and-Weldedthereto; Vertical openings or'passageways IT (Fig. 2) are provided in the platesl3 and I4 which-extend from the top edge of the plates to the lower por tion thereof and have offset h'orizontal' arcuate shaped slots or recesses Hi. The slots I8 are; located at right anglesto the passageways-I1 and 'a pair-oFoffset'shouldersl9 are provided near the top-edgesof theplates l 3-H directly above theslots* l8- (Figs: 2 and 3),. Adjacent the shoulders: i9'*are-a-pairmf'arcuate cam surfaces-20 which constitute the upper right edges of the' plates; l3. and" I4- and-are; radially drawn from the center offthearcuate shaped slots 1.8..

Adetachable handle 2! comprises asteel'ituhe 22 and a block 237 The block 23 hasa project: ing memher 24 which fits within the. lower portion of the steel'tube 22 of the handle. The memeber' 24 andtube 22. are secured together by, rivets 25 as shownjn Figs; 2;a nd 4. A pair ofjcross pins 3'I"and. 3.2 areri'gi'clly secured inthe block.23 and protrude. laterally therefrom. on both sides to engage, the arcuate. slots. I8. and arcuate surfaces 20, respectively, to. rigidly hold the handle in the dolly socket. The ,b10ck.23.has also. welded, on its upper sideaprotruding hookmember 33 (Big... 4), which .engagesthe. upper pin. [5. (Fig. 3.) when-the, handle 21'; is in its upri ht. rest position. Atthe otherendlot the steeltube 22 aihand grinning bar 34' is. press fitted; into the steel tube; 2-2 and; is

utilizedin manipulating the. handle.

To; move adolly, the=operator plaoesthedlelJ inathesocket. it on the-.dolly-.-b,: passing the two; proiecting. encls-v oi the, cross. pin 3-!v down; through the verticalpassaeeways l1; This-move; ment, is continued: until theprojectin portions. of the pin 3| contact the bottoms of the arcuate slots I8. The handle 2! is then lifted a sli ht distance and rotated clockwise so that the two projecting portions of the pin 32 clear the top edge of the shoulders l9 and engages the arcuate surfaces 2" of the plates l3l4 as shown in Fig. 2. The dolly may now be moved by exerting pressure upon the hand gripping bar 34 of the handle 2 After moving the dolly to a desired location, the operator rotates the handle 2| counterclockwise from the position shown in Fig. 2 until the hook member 33 engages the upper pin [5 to come to upright rest position thereon as shown in Fig. 3. The outer portions of the cross pins 3! and 32 are now bearing respectively on the lower portions of the slots l8 and the shoulders [9.

Because of the locking action of the pin 32 on the shoulders IS, the engagement of the hook member 33 with the pin l5, and the pin 3 hearing within the arcuate slots l8, the handle 2! is securely locked in the socket member I l in its ofi the floor rest position.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is to be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

. What is claimed is:

1. In a handle and socket for a dolly, a socket member secured to the dolly having an arcuate slot and an arcuate surface concentric with the slot, a handle, a pair of spaced projecting pins secured in tandem on the lower portion of the handle for engagement with the said arcuate slot and arcuate surface of the socket member, one of said pins contacting the surface of the slot and another of said pins simultaneously contacting the arcuate surface to hold the handle in operative engagement with the socket, and means to secure the handle in a substantially vertical position after it has been rotated in the socket to its off the floor rest position.

2. In a handle and socket for a dolly, a socket member secured to the dolly and having side walls, each of said side walls having an arcuate outer surface and an offset shoulder and an arcuate slot concentric with the arcuate outer surface, a locking pin mounted in said socket, a handle, and a plurality of means on said handle which engage respectively the offset shoulder, the slot, and the locking pin to secure the handle in a substantially vertical position, said means on the handle which engage the offset shoulder and the slot also being movable to simultaneously contact the concentric arcuate surfaces and arcuate slots of the socket, respectively, as the handle is rotated into position topermit subsequent movement of the dolly.

. 3. In a handle and socket for a dolly, a socket member secured to the dolly, said socket having spaced side walls, each of the side walls of said socket member having an arcuate outer surface and an offset shoulder and a vertical passageway extending into an arcuate shaped slot cut into each of. said side walls, a handle having mount ed thereon a pair of spaced cross pins and a hook member, a locking pin mounted in the socket, one of said cross pins engaging the arcuate shaped slot and the other cross pin simultaneously engaging the offset shoulder when the hook member contacts the locking pin to secure the handle in a substantially vertical off the floor rest position, said cross pins being movable into engagement with said arcuate portions of the socket as the handle is rotated into position to maintain the handle in operative engagement with the socket so that pressure may be exerted on the handle to move the dolly.

4. A handle and socket for a dolly comprising a socket member secured to the dolly, said socket member having a pair of spaced wall members, each of said wall members having a slot, a plurality of bridging pins connecting the wall members, a handle adapted for angular rotation in the socket from a horizontal operative position to a substantially vertical off the floor rest position, and'a plurality of means secured to said handle to engage respectively one of the bridging pins and the slots to retain the handle in its off the floor rest position.

engaging means secured to one end of the handle;

said means including a first circular pin having a diameter less than the diameter of the arcuate slot and positioned therein and a second pin nor-. mally in engagement with the stop when the handle is in its rest position, whereby the handle" may be angularly shifted from its rest position into operative position only after the handle is raised to clear the stop and rotated to bring the engaging means into contact with the concentric arcuate surfaces of the socket.

6. In a handle and socket coupling in which the handle is angularly rotated in the socket from a vertical rest position into an engaged operative position; a socket having an arcuate slot, an arcuate outer surface concentric with said slot; and an offset shoulder; a locking pin mounted'in said socket; a handle; and socket engaging means secured to one end of the handle, said means including a bearing surface, a hook and a circular pin, said circular pin having a diameter less than the diameter of the arcuate slot whereby the handle may be secured in its rest position by a three point interlocking in which thehook, the circular pin, and the cooperative bearing surface of the handle engage the locking pin, the arcuate slot, and the offset shoulder of the socket, respectively, so that the handle may be angularly shifted from its rest position into operative posi-.

tion only after the handle is raised to disengage the bearing surface from the said shoulder and bring the bearing surface and circular pin into. engagement with the concentric arcuate surfaces. of the socket.

EMIL E. MEILSTRUP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 462,112 Coup Oct. 27, 1891 891,235 Diehl June 23, 1908' 980,577 Weingardt' Jan. 3, 1911 2,368,297 Hanke I Jan. 30, 1945 Hanke Mar. 6,1945; 

